Month: February 2011

(photo: clam sauce in pan including chopped clams, garlic, olive oil, red pepper, and parsley) Why I Would Want to Be Reincarnated as Pasta and the Scordo Pasta Challenge. In many Indian religious traditions, such as Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism, it is believed that when a human dies s/he is reborn into a new body. You’ll also find the same concept in […]

(photo: two of the Gelato di Babbo flavors: key lime and coconut) Existential Thoughts on Gelato in America Update: Gelato giveaway from Gelato di Babbo and Scordo.com (see below for details and how to enter) I’ve recently realized that one needs the psychological resilience of a Cylon to get through the winter months here in the Northeast. And it’s not […]

Everyone should love frittata – the glorified egg dish that is easy to prepare, cheap, and has enough flavor to wake up a Calabrian from an afternoon nap in the middle of August. Frittata can be prepared with herbs, vegetables, leftover pasta, and cheese. In fact, the very best frittata recipes are comprised of any high quality leftover you may […]

Guide to Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano Parmigiano Reggiano is a hard Italian, cow’s milk (during production the milk may not be older than one day), cheese produced in Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, and Bologna all south of the Po River in Emilia-Romagna as well as in the Mantova area in Lombardia north of the Po River. Parmigiano referring to the […]

(photo: final dish: large rigatoni with braised short ribs in tomato sauce) Short (beef) ribs are cut from the plate and rib section of the animal and are one of my favorite additions to tomato sauce during the winter months. Short ribs are easy to prepare, relatively inexpensive (especially with the bone in), and make an ideal meat for […]

Any time a new salumi company decides to open shop in the United States it’s cause for celebration. And If the same company decides it’s going to raise it’s own heritage hogs in an antibiotic-free (and soon to be organic and nitrate free) open pasture environment, then the salumi company should be praised. The Virginia based Olli Salumeria Americana is, indeed, the laudable salumeria founded by […]

By now you know of our connection to Calabria and our familiar, immigrant, story. You know, for example, that our parents immigrated to the U.S. in the 1970’s from a tiny hilltop village in southwest Calabria called Pellegrina and that we’ve been influenced greatly by the traditions found in the region (located in southern Italy). However, we’ve never told our loyal […]

Canned Tuna, Really? As Suzzane Hamlin points out in her well written 1997 article for the New York Times, canned tuna in olive oil is the best selling seafood in the country. And your first reaction may be something akin to, “what, canned tuna, why don’t American’s buy fresh fish?” Well, high quality fresh fish is, indeed, best but if you don’t […]

(photo: penne lisce with tomato sauce, photo taken with iPhone hence grainy picture) Say it slowly, almost in a whisper: “L-I-S-C-E” (doesn’t it sound sexy). OK, come back to reality now and specifically the Scordo Pasta Challenge. The word lisce is translated as smooth and part of the exquisite and versatile pasta shape known as penne lisce. Penne lisce differs […]

(photo: courtesy of Dr. K; pita bread puffing up in the oven) In the spirit of spreading love on Valentine’s Day I’d like to share a wonderful bread recipe and guest post by way of Dr. K. This week the super home cook made homemade pita and the results are outstanding, as usual. While pita isn’t an Italian food product […]

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